Poland has ordered “several hundred” Naval Strike Missiles in a deal worth 8 billion zloty (U.S. $2 billion), according to the country’s weapons procurement agency. Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak signed the deal for two new naval missile units for its existing Naval Strike Missile anti-ship system. The contract will
Well, we have now seen via some jittery phone footage the first images of a UK-supplied Challenger 2 (CR2) tank destroyed and on fire in Ukraine. This is the first one lost in the conflict and a direct result of the Ukraine 82nd Air Assault Brigade, which is equipped
Ben Wallace has resigned as UK Defence Secretary after some four years in post. His tenure might be best described by the old Chinese proverb: “Loud thunder but few raindrops”. Old soldiers have another way of saying it, not suitable for a family newspaper. During his time in post
As Scotland’s national bard, Robert Burns, put it so aptly almost 250 years ago: “The best laid plans o’ mice an’ men gang aft agley” (Ed’s note: No matter how carefully a project is planned, something may still go wrong with it!). Burns has long been popular in Russia,
So, Yevgeny Prigozhin, erstwhile leader of the Wagner Group and, for a short while anti-Putin mutineer, has met his untimely end tonight. Forgive me for saying that I’m not surprised. His card was marked the moment he called off his Wagner fighters after they had withdrawn from the Bakhmut
Huge sighs of relief all round – well, except from Putin obviously – as Biden’s administration has finally and at long last given clearance for Denmark and Netherlands to donate their retired F-16s to Ukraine. Zelensky has been asking for them for well over a year now and the
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has awarded BAE Systems an £89 million contract to enhance front-line connectivity for military personnel, linking small reconnaissance drones, combat vehicles, fighter jets, aircraft carriers and military commands. Modern battles are fought across land, sea, air, space, cyber and electronic warfare. Rapidly evolving technologies mean
Putin’s delusional special military operation was supposed to bring Ukraine to heel in three days – 535 days later, with Russian deaths running into the high tens of thousands, the Russian military now pinned down into defensive positions and the ruble close to collapse, it’s surely just a matter
Only a few months ago the UK promised to supply 14 Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine, a move which helped persuade other western nations to supply their own tanks to aid the fight against the Russian invasion. Britain’s tanks have been in Ukraine for some months now. Since then the
Things are hotting up in Central Africa. No, I’m not referring to the temperature, although it seems to be getting warmer there year on year. I’m talking about the politics in general, and about the former French colonial state of Niger in particular. A couple of weeks ago Niger’s
Niger coup is not just another African conflict – it is a major ally of the West and it would surprise no-one to learn Putin and the Wagner Group are behind the military takeover, A couple of weeks ago Niger’s democratically elected head of state, President Mohamed Bazoum, was
Italian Navy commissions three offshore patrol vessels to Orizzonte Sistemi Navali (OSN), a joint venture between Fincantieri and Leonardo for €925 million. OSN has signed a contract with the Italian Secretariat General of Defence and National Armaments Directorate for the construction of three next-generation patrol vessels as part of the
International human rights law firm, Global Rights Compliance, has released further findings of its Mobile Justice Team’s investigation into ‘torture chambers’ in the liberated city of Kherson. The specialist unit has said that nearly 50% of Ukrainian detainees were subjected to torture, including sexual violence in Kherson detention centres
Fincantieri and C.A.B.I. Cattaneo, an Italian military underwater vehicle manufacturer for Naval Special Forces, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the assessment of commercial and industrial cooperation in the field of underwater vehicles and their integration with larger vessels. The MoU will allow underwater vehicles to be
Skills Academy will provide training for more than 12,000 Babcock employees over the next eight years. Combination of cutting-edge digital resources and hands on training Initially launching in Devonport, with a focus on submarine and nuclear skills, the Skills Academy will be expanded across Babcock’s naval nuclear activity and
A €1.5 billion contract was awarded to Naviris – joint venture formed by Fincantieri and Naval Group – and eurosam by the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR). The contract will cover the Mid-Life Upgrade (MLU) of the French and Italian Horizon class frigates. Naviris and eurosam will collaborate closely with Fincantieri and Naval Group for
The National Resistance Council for the Salvation of Afghanistan [NRCSA] opposes the Taliban regime criticises as `unrealistic and misguided a recent assessment of life under the Taliban given by Tobias Ellwood, a Conservative MP and chair of the House of Commons Defence Select committee. After visiting southern Afghanistan, the powerbase
Niger’s democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum has been overthrown. Niger is a part of the sub-Saharan African region known as the Sahel, a belt of land that stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea. The area is home to various jihadist groups and military regimes. He has
Only a few months ago the UK promised to supply 14 Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine, a move which helped persuade other western nations to supply their own tanks to aid the fight against the Russian invasion. Britain’s tanks have been in Ukraine for some months now. Since then the floodgates have creaked
